The Business of Magazines #4

Been out of this thread for quite some time but really surprised to see Lucy is leaving Porter!

There have been some great issues under her but looking forward to seeing what’s next. As a magazine concept, it’s my favourite in the UK market. I like what it stands for and the topics it chooses to give print space to.

Lucy Yeomans Exits Porter
4-5 minutesLONDON, United Kingdom — Lucy Yeomans, the founding editor-in-chief of Net-a-Porter’s magazine Porter, is exiting the company after seven years to pursue new projects. The departure was announced internally on Monday, according to sources with knowledge of the business, and confirmed by a representative for Net-a-Porter.

Luxury e-commerce site Net-a-Porter, a subsidiary of Richemont’s Yoox Net-a-Porter Group (YNAP), has been rethinking its approach to content and publishing since at least last summer but is not expected to shutter the title.

Sarah Bailey will become Porter’s acting editor-in-chief following the departure of Yeomans, who was also Net-a-Porter's global content director, overseeing digital editorial products alongside print. (While Yeomans ran both print and digital separately since 2013, the two staffs merged into one in 2018.)

It’s unclear if a permanent replacement for Yeomans will be named. Bailey joined Porter as executive brand editor in 2017 and was tasked with building an events programme. She was previously editor-in-chief at Red magazine.

Yeomans’ departure announcement comes just weeks after that of Tess Macleod Smith, the vice president of publishing and media at Net-a-Porter, who is planning to leave the company in February. She was also a part of Porter since its launch.

When Yeomans joined Net-a-Porter in 2012, hired by founder Natalie Massenet, the appointment marked one of the industry’s most high profile jumps from traditional publishing to branded content. She was previously the editor-in-chief at Harper’s Bazaar UK. (Massenet left Net-a-Porter in 2015.)

Porter publishes a print magazine six times a year. New content is published online every day. The Edit, a weekly digital magazine, predates the print product and is said to drive significant sales. While Porter features fashion available to shop on Net-a-Porter, it has also become known for its high-profile celebrity cover stories.

Net-a-Porter’s decision to launch a magazine initially raised questions about the boundaries between retail and editorial. But in recent years, the line between “church and state” has eroded further in traditional media through branded content and content designed to generate affiliate revenue from e-commerce sales. Meanwhile, the perceived success of new “contextual commerce” brands such as Goop — the Gwyneth Paltrow lifestyle and wellness newsletter-turned-e-commerce player, which launched a magazine in 2017 — indicated that Porter’s approach to content had legs.

In a competitive luxury e-commerce market — where capital-rich players like MatchesFashion and Farfetch are racing to capture international consumer loyalty — content that attracts and keeps shoppers engaged has become increasingly important.

Digital marketing is more expensive as more brands fight for consumer eyeballs, and earned media is harder to garner in a paid influencer-heavy market, so brands and retailers are putting more resources towards developing in-house publications that attract readers on their own merit.

“I have enjoyed the most wonderful six and half years at Net-a-Porter and am incredibly proud of all that that has been achieved by my team and I during this time,” said Yeomans in a statement. “As Porter hits its five-year anniversary milestone, it feels like the perfect time to take on an exciting new challenge.”

“Lucy has been a driving force behind the development of our pioneering content and has built Porter into an award-winning, world-renowned proposition,” said Alison Loehnis, president of Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter, in a statement. “I have loved working with her and would like to express my sincere thanks to Lucy for her passion, creativity and commitment and wish her every success in her next venture.”

Been out of this thread for quite some time but really surprised to see Lucy is leaving Porter!

There have been some great issues under her but looking forward to seeing what’s next. As a magazine concept, it’s my favourite in the UK market. I like what it stands for and the topics it chooses to give print space to.

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When did this happen??

EDIT: I see Business of Fashion got the exclusive, but I can't view as I don't subscribe to that site. Quite shocking actually. Although I initially thought she would leave with Natalie to be honest.

This is somewhat concerning because not only was Lucy the launching editor of Porter and the idea was all hers, meaning it will be very hard to envision the magazine without her, she also recently consolidated Porter and The Edit's teams together. That's a lot of responsibility coupled with risk for someone new to take over. I reckon it would be better to split the teams again because The Edit is doing perfectly fine on their own. Either way, NAP should be very concerned. I imagine they already have a replacement if next month is her final issue? This is all so sudden.

But what's the 'exciting next venture', I wonder?? I'm guessing maybe she'll launch her own magazine.

Wishful thinking would be for her to be installed at American Vogue. She's one of the very few editors who are qualified for that job.

I believe you all have heard of that massive lay off of journalists from certain digital publications in the US? See, even digital can’t really thrive in today’s Google and Facebook-driven advertising climate. Going online would not mean anything if the large percentage of your advertisers have chosen to do more campaign placements with the aforementioned tech behemoths. Coupled with the fact that the open exchange platform is also highly considered by brands from every category because it allows them to reach more with measurable results. Hence Conde Nast’s, and many other publications’, decision to apply paywall instead of doing open exchange. Because once you go open exchange, the ads that would appear on your sites are controlled by the aggregator, which means a brand as tacky as say, Tresemme could come up on high fashion sites like Vogue. Until these publications find a way to partner with google and facebook, they’ll continue to sink and the downward spiral will definitely affect the printed version.

So this will be branded 'Vogue Greece' this time to set it apart from the earlier incarnation of 'Vogue Hellas'?

It will mark the second entry of the magazine into Greece; Vogue Hellas launched in March 2000 under Liberis Publications, but ceased operations in 2012 after the publisher went bankrupt.

“We don’t call it a relaunch because we don’t consider it as a continuation [from that],” said Karina Dobrotvorskaya, executive director of editorial development at Condé Nast International. “It’s a different team and different era. The previous Vogue was very print-focused, but they now need to speak to a different generation.”

the Vogue Greece logo looks beautiful! Looks like a classic Vogue Franchise! I like it. So nostalgic.

Vogue Hong Kong’s logo was a choice! Who in their right mind would use such a thin font coupled with that minute size?? That will get LOST in the background! Choices people. Choices. Erroneous branding at its best. Good luck.

Imagine if it used a Condensed Serif font like Vogue Italia? The missed opportunity.

YNAP Remains Committed to Porter as Richemont Picks Over the Numbers
Samantha Conti
5-6 minutesMOVING ON: Could Porter magazine be going the way of so many other lush glossies, which are resizing, going digital-only or disappearing?

Porter, which launched in February 2014 as a bimonthly, might be saying goodbye to its founding editor and global content director Lucy Yeomans, and its publisher Tess Macleod Smith, but Porter’s owner YNAP said it’s fully committed to the print title and the entire Porter franchise.

“Porter is a world-class, differentiated proposition with a pioneering vision that Net-a-porter is fully committed to,” a YNAP spokesman said Tuesday. “The business has been built on excellent content and it remains a very important part of our customer proposition.”

Veteran magazine editor Sarah Bailey will become acting editor in chief, having joined Porter from Hearst last year. She will continue to work with a team that includes Jenny Dickinson, Kay Barron and Newby Hands. Yeomans had recruited Bailey, former editor in chief at Hearst’s Red magazine, to develop the publication’s event strategy and build it as a stand-alone brand.

The company is set to launch the fifth anniversary issue of Porter, featuring Gisele Bündchen photographed by Mario Sorrenti.

Sources familiar with Richemont, which purchased the entirety of Porter’s parent YNAP last year, have a different story to tell. They said Richemont and YNAP have been “in ongoing discussions” about the fate of Porter, which remains loss-making. Although the print title has built a solid ad base and events franchise, including its Incredible Women talks and charity galas, money has become a sticking point.

Sources said discussions about Porter’s future have been taking place at group level, and that neither Yeomans nor McLeod Smith were involved, with both making their own decisions to move on.

“Richemont liked the idea of a print magazine, but then they looked at the numbers,” said one source, adding that YNAP has been subsidizing the title, viewing it as a marketing tool for the brand. Porter recorded a circulation of 180,646, according to BPA Worldwide in 2017, the latest figure available.

Yeomans, the magazine’s founding editor, said she was proud of the work that she’d done in the six-and-a-half years at Porter. “As Porter hits its five-year anniversary milestone, it feels like the perfect time to take on an exciting new challenge.”

Yeomans and Macleod Smith join staffers including Porter’s former fashion director Gabriele Hackworthy, who left to go to Jimmy Choo where she is now senior vice president of global brand and marketing communications, a new role. Emily Zak, who was Porter’s executive fashion editor, left to go to Vogue International.

The top-level discussions around Porter should not come as a surprise: Last year, Richemont purchased the remaining shares in YNAP that it did not own, valuing the company at 5.3 billion euros, and has been poring over the company books, evaluating future investments and figuring out its priorities for the luxury e-commerce giant.

Net didn’t come cheaply: Last year Richemont cut into its formidable cash pile, spending in excess of 3 billion euros on YNAP and Watchfinder, the pre-owned premium watch specialist.

In the first-half, YNAP grew in the double digits, but brought an operating loss to Richemont’s balance sheet.

Richemont’s operating profit dropped 3 percent to 1.13 billion euros, which the company said came from an increase in costs related to the acquisition and consolidation of YNAP and Watchfinder and to the sale last year of its leather-goods business Lancel.

Together, YNAP and Watchfinder recorded a loss of 115 million euros in the period, an amount Richemont said was related to the amortization of intangible assets recognized on acquisitions.

In addition, Richemont has some big plans for Net and its men’s wear sibling Mr Porter, announcing a joint venture deal last year with Alibaba that will take YNAP to Chinese Mainlanders and tourists alike in a bid to grab a greater share of that fast-growing market.

If Richemont decides to proceed with the current iteration of Porter, the international title could play an even bigger role in the YNAP business going forward. It has certainly been gearing for online growth in particular.

A year ago, Yeomans was behind the launch of Porter Digital, a multilingual editorial platform designed to bring the company’s current content offer under one roof, including a new daily content site called porter.com.

Fusing content and commerce has been at the company’s core since its inception as a shoppable magazine. It already has a weekly digital magazine, The Edit, in addition to the print title Porter. With the new Porter Digital platform, it is looking to create a more integrated approach, bringing all of its media outlets together and responding to customers’ demands for more content.

The new platform was specifically designed for mobile to answer to the shift in consumer behavior, with 50 percent of Net’s total orders being placed via mobile devices. The content is also translated into four languages — English, French, German and Mandarin — in line with the company’s global outlook.